Catastrophe Waitress
by sophichka
Summary: Jasper's the new mechanic across the street from Bella's diner. She knows nothing about his broken soul and lost childhood; all she knows is that he needs a friend. But when you've spent so long running from your past, do you still have the humanity to turn to face your future? Bella/Jasper 90s AHAU
1. Dear Catastrophe Waitress

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress  
__I'm sorry if you seem to have  
__the weight of the world over you  
__I cherish your smile  
__There's a word of peace on your lips  
__Say it, and with tenderness  
__I'll cherish you_

_Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Belle and Sebastian_

It was sweltering in the small, wood paneled diner, even with the ceiling fan on high. Bella lay stretched out in the freezer, apron strings untied and buttons undone, cigarette held as far away from her as possible as she tried to cool down before the lunch time rush.

The park in the town square was totally barren, the leaves on the trees turning brown around the edges, despite it being barely July. In the garage across the street all the doors were thrown open, overalls tied around waists and shirts discarded.

Jess threw herself down on the floor next to Bella, grabbing a handful of ice and holding it to her forehead.

"My grandma said yesterday this is the hottest she's felt it since '35."

Bella nodded along to Jess's chattering absentmindedly, dragging on her cigarette. It was a well-practiced lunch break ritual; Jess spoke and Bella smoked.

"Hey, Bells, you seen Tyler's got a new mechanic?"

Stubbing her cigarette out with the calloused heel of her hand and exhaling, Bella nodded.

"Yeah, Mike mentioned it when he came in for dinner last night. Be nice to have some extra help I guess, those boys work too damn hard."

The bell over the door jangled, and Bella didn't even need to look out of the freezer door to know the raucous group piling in was the boys from across the street.

Rising from her place on the floor Bella shook out her apron, and motioned to Jess to stand up as well.

"Come on, Jessie-Lou, we got a hungry town to feed."

"Hey, Bells! What's the pie today?"

"Peach," she called back to Mike, turning to top up Mrs. Webber's coffee as Jess shut the freezer door behind them. "Grab a seat and I'll bring y'all your orders over."

Picking up her coffee pot she turned to the booth in the window, pouring coffee in all the mugs. When she reached the fourth, a hand came out to cover and stop her.

"Don't 'spose y'all have somethin' a little cooler?"

Raising her head, Bella encountered a pair of ice blue eyes set under a shaggy blonde fringe; the face far too tanned to belong to any of the three mechanics that came for lunch regularly.

"Well now, you must be Tyler's new mechanic."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, nodding his head, "Jasper Whitlock."

"I'm sure I can rustle you up some lemonade, Mr. Whitlock. I'll be back in a tick."

* * *

Placing the lemonade and sandwiches on the table, she pointed out the payphone when Jasper asked, before heading over to clear Mrs. Webber's table. Balancing the tray on her hip as she wiped the table down, she watched out of the corner of her eye as the mechanic shove his chair back before heading over to the pay-phone.

"Bells, shut your mouth, you're drooling."

Bella's mouth closed with a snap before she turned to glare at the mechanic leaning up against the counter.

"As if, Newton, I'm just admiring the view," she said, gesturing vaguely out of the window behind the pay phone.

Putting the tray in the sink behind her, she moved behind the counter to ring him up, keeping her gaze on the tall man at the payphone, seemingly engrossed in what the recipient of his call was saying to him. From the hunch of his shoulders it didn't seem to be the happiest conversation, and Bella itched to go and smooth the tension out of those muscles.

She spent the rest of the afternoon floating on autopilot, coffee pot in one hand, tray in the other, pad and pen hanging from her apron strings. She'd given up on the ceiling fan at about three o'clock, and instead set up the standing fans; a tray of ice underneath each one in an attempt to cool the air, rather than just move it about.

Clocking off that evening, she scraped the sweaty pony tail off the back of her neck into a top knot, throwing her apron into the laundry and rushing to her truck. Cranking the windows down and the radio up, she threw the rusty red Chevy into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

Driving past the garage, she saw Jasper leaning up against an oil can out front, cigarette between his teeth, boot scuffing lines into the dirt. She raised a hand as she drove past, barely catching his eye as she barreled along at 40 miles per hour.

Ducking in the shower as soon as she got home, Bella wallowed in the cool spray cascading over her body, washing away the sweat and grime of the day. She took her time lathering strawberry shampoo into her hair, combing the conditioner through and luxuriating in the sugar scrub.

Padding out of the bathroom twenty minutes later wrapped in a threadbare towel, she picked the phone of the cradle and went to sprawl on the sofa in the living area of her small studio flat.

"Hey, Daddy," she said when it connected and Phil picked up, "is Mom there?"

She waited while he yelled up the stairs for Renée, hearing the faint sound of her parents' bedroom door opening, her mother's footsteps getting louder as she descended the stairs.

"Hiya, honey," her mom said when she'd plucked the phone from Phil's hand, "I'd hoped you'd call today. I put some freesias on his grave for you, like you asked."

"Thanks, Mom," she whispered, stretching her legs over the end of the sofa, "I'd hoped to come up but I couldn't get the time off work, Mrs. Mallory wants all hands on deck at the moment."

"I know, Bells, and I know your dad would have been so proud of you, you're such a hard working young woman."

Bella flicked the tears from the corners of her eyes, settling in for a night of stories about Charlie. It had been one of her favorite pastimes when she was younger, her mom telling her stories about the father she never knew, the dashing, heroic young policeman, killed in a gunfight during a crackdown on gang violence.

Now the stories just made her sad. She was old enough to understand that her father hadn't been heroic; he'd just been unlucky. A young, small town cop who was totally unprepared when he was drafted into Seattle and died as a result.

She fell asleep to the sound of memories and her mother's laughter.

* * *

**Pre-read by the fantastic augustmonsoon and beta-d by Project Team Beta. SM owns all etc. **


	2. The Boy With The Arab Strap

_It's something to speak of the way you are feeling  
to crowds there assembled  
do you ever feel you have gone too far?  
Everyone suffers in silence a burden_

_/_

_You're constantly updating your hit parade of your ten biggest wanks  
she's a waitress and she's got style  
Sunday bathtime could take a while_

_The Boy With The Arab Strap – Belle and Sebastian_

* * *

Jasper wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm, leaving another streak of grease along his already dirty face.

"Well, Mr. Banner, I gotta say y'all were lucky. Coupl'a more days and this truck woulda left ya high and dry on the side'a the road."

The older man nodded his thanks, climbing in the truck as Jasper walked over to sling his spanner on the shelf.

Bracing his arms over the sink, he turned the tap on full, sticking his head under the flow before shaking like a dog. As Tyler yelled his name for lunch, he grabbed a towel from the side, scrubbing it over his face and arms.

The other three mechanics spent the walk over to the diner teasing Mike about some waitress named Jessie. Jasper hung back, not bothered about making friends with his new colleagues. Staying in town long enough to make friends was a rarity; it was best to not even try.

There were two young waitresses emerging from a door behind the counter when they walked in, aprons strings tied around blue dresses, both wearing chucks. Mike yelled across to the brunette—Bella—and she waved them into a booth by the window.

Jasper hadn't been paying attention once they'd slung themselves into a booth; and it wasn't until the smell of coffee invaded the air that he took notice of his surroundings. The thought of coffee made his skin crawl, his hand shaking as he stuck it out over the mug, almost knocking the coffee pot out of the waitress's—Bella's—hand.

He nodded his thanks absent-mindedly as she set the glass down in front of him, fishing a piece of ice out to chew on.

He zoned out of the conversation that was taking place around him, instead looking around the diner—nothing remarkably different than any of the countless other small town diners he'd sat in over the past 24 years.

Excusing himself as soon as he'd wolfed down his sandwich, he made his way over to the pay phone in the corner, digging a pile of quarters and a wedge of dollar bills out of his back pocket. Once he'd punched in the number he listened to the crackles from the long distance line, waiting for the girl on the other end to pick up.

"Hey listen, Rosabee, it's Jasper. Look, I'm not gonna make it up to Newark for the fourth, darlin'. I gotta work off the cost of repairin' the truck."

He listened patiently to her protests, assuring her that she'd have plenty of fun without him, that Esme would make sure that the fourth was as fun as always, even without him there.

"Give my love to your Momma for me, and tell her I'll be up real soon."

Jasper spent the rest of the afternoon waist deep in the engine of his Ford F150, trying to figure out why the engine had cut out on him halfway between Houston and Newark. He had thought that maybe the rubber between the fuel pump and the fuel line had a leak in it, but having pulled it out and filtered water through it, seeing no sign of a leak, he was stumped.

By six he had given up. Heading out front for a final cigarette before he returned to the B&B he leaned up an old oilcan, out ready for it to be taken with the rest of the trash the next morning. He heard the rumble of a badly tuned engine coming down the road towards him, and looked up to see Bella wave out of the window of an ancient Chevy 3100.

* * *

**_16 years ago: Jasper is 8._**

_"__Bye, honey!" his mother shouted, waving out of the window as his father backed the truck out of the driveway. "Be good for grandma!"_

_Jasper waved for as long as he could see the truck, taking Momma and Dad to the hospital to collect his new baby sister. He was excited, he'd already sworn he was gonna be the best big brother little Rosalie could ever have; he was gonna teach her to climb the biggest tree at the bottom of the garden and make sure no one picked on her at school, ever._

_Jasper spent the day coloring in pictures in the living room, while Grandma sat on the couch white-faced, talking in hushed tones on the telephone. He wasn't allowed to go outside, and when Grandma asked for a hug, she held him too tight, and he thought his lungs were gonna burst._

_He told her all his plans for Rosalie, how he knew that Momma had to look after her for a little bit until she was big enough to play with him, but then he was gonna share all his toys with her, he'd even let her play with his civil war soldiers; not even his best friend Emmett was allowed to play with them._

_Grandma nodded in all the right places, but she wouldn't look at him, and Jasper thought she might be crying, but he didn't know why she'd be crying so he carried on coloring._

_It was very dark outside by the time the headlights from the truck lit up the lounge window. Grandma should have put him in bed hours ago, but maybe she forgot._

_Dad walked in carrying a tiny little bundle in his arms. Jasper jumped up to go and get a first glimpse of his Rosalie, but Grandma snagged the back of his shirt and pulled him back._

_Dad's face was all red and puffy, like he'd been crying._

_"__I'm so sorry, son," Grandma said._

_Jasper didn't understand why she was sorry. Rosalie was here, why were Dad and Grandma crying? Maybe Momma could cheer them up when she came in from the car._

_Grandma took Rosalie from Dad's arms and Dad started crying, big, choking sobs that seemed to explode out of him. He reached blindly for Jasper and started rocking him back and forth, squeezing him even tighter than Grandma had._

_He repeated Grandma's words._

_"__I'm so sorry, son, I'm so, so sorry."_

_Jasper went to bed that night with the image of Momma, smiling and waving out of the window of the truck, emblazoned on the back of his eyelids._

* * *

**-catastrophe-waitress on tumblr is my mood board for this fic if anyone is interested. **


	3. All Grown Up

_All grown up  
__And you don't care anymore  
__And you hate all the people that you used to adore  
__And you despise all the rumors and lies of the life you led before  
_

_All Grown Up – Elvis Costello_

* * *

Bella lounged languidly in bed the next morning. She had flicked only a sheet over her legs and left the window open, the muggy air making it difficult to breathe.

She finally stood up, sheet wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak, feet bare on the wooden floors. She crossed to the window and pulled the curtains back, the scene outside as lazy as the one inside, kids lounging on lawns and shop fronts thrown open, employees soaking up the sun.

After pulling on some clothes, Bella dragged on some sneakers and pulled her hair into a ponytail, grabbing her purse as she headed out of the kitchen. Her one day off a week was her day for running errands, but the heat had sucked all of the motivation out of her.

Shutting her apartment door, she waved to Angela as she walked past her on the way to her truck. The engine came to life with a noisy growl when she turned the keys in the ignition, and she backed carefully out of the parking lot.

* * *

Bella dashed around the Stop&Go, piling groceries haphazardly into her cart. She was sorely tempted by the cool allure of the ice cream freezer but resisted, knowing that it would merely melt in her truck while she ran the rest of her errands.

As she steered the cart around the corner, she saw Jasper lazily examining the labels on cartons of instant noodles.

"Hi!"she said, making her way over to him. She stopped to grab some eggs from the shelf to the left before closing the gap between them.

"Miss Bella," he said, tipping his hat to her, "how are ya?"

Bella laughed. "Hot!" She glanced into his basket and couldn't help but notice it was piled high with instant food. "Say, I don't suppose you've got great cooking facilities at the B&B?"

Glancing down ruefully at his basket, Jasper replied, "Not really. Not sure that it'd make a whole loada difference if I did though."

Feeling sorry for the obviously lonely man who was clearly hundreds of miles away from his family, Bella reacted impulsively.

"Why don't you come for dinner tonight?"

Jasper looked surprised at her invitation, reaching a hand around to the back of his neck and rubbing.

"Well, if you're sure that's okay. I haven't had a decent meal in weeks."

Assuring him that it was fine, Bella rattled off her address and directions. She started to push her cart toward the checkouts, but then she turned back to the tall Texan behind her.

"Hey, Jasper?"

Jasper looked up from his perusal of the noodle labels, eyebrow raised at her.

"What's your favorite food?"

He grinned widely. "Mexican."

* * *

The doorbell rang just as Bella reached in for the enchiladas. Shoving the oven door closed with her foot, she yanked the hair tie out of her hair and rubbed an arm over her face to eradicate any traces of tomato sauce.

Pulling her apartment door open, she saw Jasper leaning lazily against the doorpost, a six-pack of beer dangling from his fingers.

"Hey," she said, pulling the door wider, "come on in. We're just waiting for Mike and Jess, and then we can eat."

Jasper walked into the small living area, dropping the beer on the table as he passed, before turning to face her.

"I appreciate this," he said, a smile fluttering at the corners of his lips. "Think my stomach was startin' to forget that food other than dehydrated noodles existed."

Bella giggled nervously, a hand fiddling with her necklace. Now that Jasper had arrived before Mike—her intended safety barrier—she was feeling unsure, not used to being alone with an almost stranger.

She waved him toward the sofa, tossing a can of beer from the fridge at him, grabbing his off the table and slotting them into her half-empty refrigerator. Snatching herself a can of Diet Coke, she parked herself in the chair opposite the sofa.

"So, tell me how a Southern boy like you stumbles into our small Midwestern town," she queried, tucking her feet underneath her.

"Broke down on my trip cross country. Tyler was the only mechanic in a fifty-mile radius who'd let me work off the cost of repairin' my truck." He fiddled with the ring of the can, running his finger under it three times before popping it off. He poured the amber liquid carefully down the side of the glass, sucking the foam off the top. He crushed the can in his fist, before putting it on the coffee table in front of him.

Bella nodded absent-mindedly. From the tick in his jaw she could tell that it was a blow to his pride having to work off the repairs, and she wished she could do something to make his life easier.

Mike and Jess arrived not long after, and the four of them decamped to the dining table, Bella seating Mike and Jess next to each other while she and Jasper sat at opposite ends of the table.

Watching Jasper banter with Mike, keeping up with his notoriously sharp tongue, and allowing the sarcastic insults to slide off his back, Bella decided that Jasper was a good fit for her ragtag group of friends.

"Say, Miss Bella," he said with a smile, turning away from his conversation with Mike, "you don't sound as though y'all're from round these parts neither?"

Jess sat up straighter at his question, her gaze darting to Bella as Mike shook his head slightly at Jasper, who opened his mouth to apologize.

Bella waved him off. "No, I'm from Washington," she said, a hand going up to fiddle with a lock of hair. "Came down here about a year ago, soon as I graduated high school."

Dropping her hair, Bella picked up her and Jess's plates, then scooting her chair back and standing. "Anyone for cobbler?"

Jess smiled sympathetically at the abrupt change of subject, rising and grabbing the boys' plates. Jasper looked momentarily confused before Mike engaged him in conversation about the Cowboys' chances next season and the subject was forgotten.

* * *

Jasper and Mike left together at about ten, Jess stayed behind to chatter and help Bella clean up.

"So when are you gonna admit you like Mike?" Bella teased, dunking a plate into the sink one last time before passing it to Jess, who was waiting with a towel.

"I've told you, it'll never happen." Jess rubbed the towel briskly over the plate before reaching up to place it in the cabinet just above her head. "We tried once in high school. He lasted a week before he had Alice Brandon in the back of his truck again. That girl has her claws into him well and good."

Bella shook her head pensively, "you know, I think you're underestimating him. She's been in New York close to a year now, without a word. I think he's seeing her the same way you and all the rest of his friends do now."

Jess' gaze lingered a little too long on the glass she was drying.

"I don't know, Bells. I don't want to ruin what we already are."

Pulling her hands out of the water and drying them on Jess' towel, Bella smiled ruefully. "I can understand that, Jessie-Lou, believe me."

Tugging the towel away from Jess, Bella grabbed her hands and shoved her toward the sofa. "You pick the movie, I'll grab the popcorn."

* * *

**-catastrophe-waitress on tumblr is this fic's mood board, and also features the playlist for the whole fic, if anyone is interested. **

**Would love to hear your opinions so far!**


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